Automobiles generally provide lighting for various locations in the vehicle by utilizing one or more discreet light bulbs in the immediate area where illumination is desired. More recently, distributed light systems have found use in the vehicle. For example, what started with a single vehicular dome light has now progressed to as many as 40 light sources distributed through the vehicle to illuminate a wide variety of functional areas.
Furthermore, automobiles also make use of a number of lighting technologies. For example, in addition to incandescent lighting, fluorescent lighting, LED illumination, cold cathode technology, and electroluminescent technology may now find use, further adding to the problem of how to most efficiently manage the many locations, operation and power consumption of the differing technologies.
Even with all the vehicle lights used today, certain areas of the vehicle are still particularly prone to poor lighting, particularly at night. For example, vehicle lighting tends to be relatively inadequate in foot wells, lower sitting areas, storage containers and cargo areas. The problem is exacerbated in the evening and in dimly lit garages where ambient light is relatively low. The lighting in these areas often produces adjacent shadowed areas which become more difficult to observe due to the contrast arising between the lighted and shadowed areas.
What is needed is a means to illuminate various areas of a vehicle interior more uniformly to reduce shadowing effects, as well as illuminate various areas without necessarily requiring power from the vehicle.